[JURIST] Nigerian authorities have sexually abused and exploited women and girls displaced by the Boko Haram conflicted, according to a report [text] released Monday by Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website]. HRW documented sexual abuse of 43 females in July 2016 living in seven “internally displaced persons” camps in the Borno State capital. The majority reported being coerced into sex with false marriage proposals and false promises of assistance, while other reported being drugged and raped. HRW chastised the Nigerian government for not doing more to protect displaced females or to ensure they have basic rights and the ability to sanction the abusers.

The militant Islamic group Boko Haram [BBC backgrounder; JURIST news archive], whose name means “Western education is a sin,” has been fighting to overthrow the Nigerian government in the interest of creating an Islamist state. In August the UN stated [JURIST report] that it is becoming increasingly alarmed by “catastrophic” levels of suffering in Nigeria, as more rights violations are being exposed while the anti-Boko Haram military campaign advances. In August UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon [official profile] applauded [JURIST report] the EU for donating 50 million euro (approximately USD $55,435,000) to the Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF). The MNJTF was created by Lake Chad basin countries in an effort to combat Boko Haram. In July the Secretary-General condemned [JURIST report] yet another attack by Boko Haram in Nigeria that left 30 dead and approximately 80 injured. In April the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Raad al-Hussein, reported [JURIST report] that Boko Haram militants in Nigeria have been murdering women and girls previously taken captive by the group.